Sidney Lumet's The Deadly Affair fields an outstanding cast of actors but the results are disappointing in this slow moving and passionless spy story that meanders sluggishly throughout.
Special agent Charles Dobbs (James Mason) is stunned to find out a man he interviewed and gave clearance for a high security position has committed suicide. Things at home aren't going so well for Dobbs either with an adulterous wife. Assigned a retired detective (Harry Andrews) to help investigate the suspicious death Dobbs begins to find out some sordid truths close to home.
James Mason Dobb's is about the only saving grace to be found in Affair. Simone Signoret, Max Schell and Bibbi Anderson are all wasted in parts that are undeveloped and remote remaining en masse in a comatose state most of the way. Mason on the other hand is powerfully effective in scene after scene but other than a couple of humorous moments with Harry Andrews has no one to counter his emotional tenor.
Lumet's direction is erratic, his pace suspense draining (glaringly so during the films climax at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre) and his compositions murky. By the time you get around to it's hollow forced finish this whole affair is d.o.a.
Special agent Charles Dobbs (James Mason) is stunned to find out a man he interviewed and gave clearance for a high security position has committed suicide. Things at home aren't going so well for Dobbs either with an adulterous wife. Assigned a retired detective (Harry Andrews) to help investigate the suspicious death Dobbs begins to find out some sordid truths close to home.
James Mason Dobb's is about the only saving grace to be found in Affair. Simone Signoret, Max Schell and Bibbi Anderson are all wasted in parts that are undeveloped and remote remaining en masse in a comatose state most of the way. Mason on the other hand is powerfully effective in scene after scene but other than a couple of humorous moments with Harry Andrews has no one to counter his emotional tenor.
Lumet's direction is erratic, his pace suspense draining (glaringly so during the films climax at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre) and his compositions murky. By the time you get around to it's hollow forced finish this whole affair is d.o.a.